#169 Bertrand Sinclair
March 09th, 2016
LOCATION: Squitty Bay, Squitty Bay Provincial Park, east end of Lasqueti Island (at the end of Squitty Bay Road). 49° 27′ 9″ N, 124° 9′ 57″ W
After the death of Bertrand Sinclair–easily one of the greatest B.C. writers that most people have never heard of–his ashes were spread here, at Squitty Bay. That’s because Sinclair’s Hardy-esque romance Poor Man’s Rock (1920) is named for a place off Lasqueti Island, at Squitty Bay, where dense kelp and swirling currents prevented motorized fishing boats from approaching, restricting fishing to hand trollers. “Only a poor man trolled in a rowboat,” Sinclair wrote, “…Poor Man’s Rock had given many a man a chance.” The romance angle of this novel is secondary to Sinclair’s superb depiction of how cannery operators—the B.C. Packers Association—were unfairly controlling prices with price-fixing agreements, leading to poor working conditions. Jack MacRae, the hero, realizes how the Packers Association discourages competition by monopolizing cannery sites and licences. He concludes “the wholesaler stood like a wall between the fishermen and those who ate fish.” By offering fair prices to independent fishermen, MacRae scuttles his rival Horace Gower’s control. When the hero ultimately marries Gower’s daughter, Betty, the capitalist father-in-law confesses to MacRae that wealth never made him a happy man.
QUICK ENTRY:
Bertrand “Bill” Sinclair was one of the most successful and admirable novelists in B.C. history. A cowboy, logger, fisherman, social activist, broadcaster and unionist poet, he wrote 15 novels, several of which became silent movies such as North of ‘53 (1914) and Big Timber (1916). His main attempt at a ‘literary’ novel, The Inverted Pyramid (1924) was inspired by the failure of the Dominion Trust Company. North of ‘53 reputedly sold 340,000 copies but Sinclair considered Poor Man’s Rock (1920), in which the hero is concerned about declining salmon stocks, as his most successful work. According to critic and friend Lester Peterson, Sinclair showed a “general disgust for the mere entrepreneur, the man who manipulates but does not actually produce goods or services.”
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1881, Sinclair immigrated to Canada with his mother in 1889, then ran away from home to become a cowboy in Montana at age 15. In 1905, he married novelist Bertha M. (Muzzy) Bower, who wrote more than 60 Westerns under her first husband’s surname, Bower. The protagonist of her best-known work, Chip of the Flying U, was based on Sinclair. Dismayed by phoney depictions of cowboys in romance novels, Sinclair turned his hand to fiction after he moved to San Francisco, starting with Raw Gold (1908) and The Land of the Frozen Suns (1909). After divorcing his first wife, Sinclair married her cousin Ruth and returned to Canada. In British Columbia he began to adapt his melodramatic, heroic stories to realistically depict the lives of loggers, fishermen and ranchers. Prior to writing Big Timber: A Story of the Northwest (1916), Sinclair observed logging operations at Harrison Lake for three years. For Down the Dark Alley (1936), which describes so-called rum-running during Prohibition, Sinclair accompanied a liquor shipment to the U.S.
Bertrand Sinclair was also widely known for his VHF radio broadcasts to fishermen, ‘The Sinclair Hour’ and his beloved 37-foot troller Hoo Hoo which was moored at Pender Harbour, where he first bought property in 1923. He didn’t retire from fishing until age 83. After Sinclair died at age 91, in 1972, his ashes were scattered over Poor Man’s Rock off Lasqueti Island. The Hoo Hoo was burned for an episode of The Beachcombers in 1985. Betty Keller’s biography is Pender Harbour Cowboy: The Many Lives of Bertrand Sinclair (2000).
Bertrand Sinclair
FULL ENTRY:
Of the great B.C. writers most people have never heard of, Bertrand W. “Bill” Sinclair was possibly the most successful. A cowboy, logger, fisherman, social activist, broadcaster and unionist poet, he wrote 15 novels, numerous of which became silent movies [see below] such as Big Timber (1917) and North of ‘53 (1917), and he was widely known for his radio broadcasts to fishermen. Sinclair moored his beloved 37-foot troller Hoo Hoo at Pender Harbour, the community with which he was associated for 60 years, before the Hoo Hoo was burned for an episode of The Beachcombers in 1985. The Hoo Hoo was built in 1911 and purchased by Sinclair eight years later.
Bertrand Sinclair was born as William Brown Sinclair in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 9, 1881. After immigrating to Regina with his mother in 1889, he lived in Alberta’s Peace River country and Saskatchewan’s Qu’Appelle Valley during his early teenage years. He ran away from home to become a cowboy in Montana at age 15. In 1905, he married novelist Bertha M. (Muzzy) Bower, who wrote more than 60 Westerns under her first husband’s surname, Bower. The protagonist of her best-known work, Chip of the Flying U, was based on Sinclair. Dismayed by the phoney depictions of cowboys he found in romance novels, Sinclair turned his hand to fiction after he moved to San Francisco. His early, Jack London-influenced Westerns included Raw Gold (1908) and The Land of the Frozen Suns (1909). From 1907 to 1911 Sinclair and his wife lived mostly in California, raising one daughter. Contrary to some reports, he was not a cousin of one of America’s most progressive and successful authors, Upton Sinclair, but Bertrand Sinclair did admire Upton Sinclair’s work. Divorcing his first wife, Sinclair married her cousin Ruth and returned to Canada.
By early 1912, Bertrand Sinclair had settled in an apartment in Vancouver, first at the Englesea then later at the Sylvia Court, and bought property at Pender Harbour in 1923. They had one daughter. In British Columbia he began to adapt his melodramatic, heroic stories to depict the lives of loggers, fishermen and ranchers. After publishing his extremely popular novel critical of urban industrialism, North of ‘53, in 1914, reputedly selling 340,000 copies—-like Martin Allerdale Grainger before him, and like Roderick Haig-Brown and Peter Trower after him—-Sinclair became interested in writing about logging. He observed logging operations for three years at Harrison Lake before writing Big Timber: A Story of the Northwest (1916). Increasingly popular, Sinclair had four editions of his next novel, Burned Bridges (1919), published in as many months.
Bertrand Sinclair’s most famous novel, Poor Man’s Rock (1920), was written after Sinclair did some research as a commercial fisherman. A Hardy-esque romance about family pride and corporate exploitation in the fishing industry, it reputedly sold 80,000 copies. The story concerns a recently-returned World One vet, Jack MacRae, who returns to the West Coast. Before his father dies, he learns that his father had eloped with his sweetheart, Bessie, only to be overtaken at sea by her father, her grandfather and a monied suitor named Horace Gower. Sworn to pacifism by his beloved, MacRae Sr. had been knocked unconscious by Gower’s attack with a pike pole. He drifted and was shipwrecked on Squitty Island (Lasqueti Island). Gower married Bessie and for the next 30 years his wealthy clan waged a silent, economic war on the unlucky MacRae Sr., slowly divesting him of his property due to the Gowers’ clout in the Packers Association. MacRae Jr. vows to appease his disinheritance, repurchase family property and “take a fall out of Horace Gower that would jar the bones of his ancestors.” Jack, the hero, realizes how the Packers Association discourages competition by monopolizing cannery sites and licences. He concludes “the wholesaler stood like a wall between the fishermen and those who ate fish.” By offering fair prices to independent fishermen, MacRae scuttles Gower’s control and ultimately marries Gower’s daughter, Betty, with the blessings of her father. The capitalist father-in-law confesses to MacRae Jr. that wealth never made him a happy man. The title Poor Man’s Rock is drawn from a real place, a rock off Lasqueti Island. Dense kelp and swirling currents around its base prevented large, motorized fishing boats from approaching, restricting fishing there to hand trollers. “Only a poor man trolled in a rowboat,” Sinclair wrote, “…Poor Man’s Rock had given many a man a chance.”
Striving for increased social relevance, Sinclair examined the aftermath of World War I with Hidden Places (1922), a poignant romance about a facially-mutilated and emotionally shattered veteran and a blind woman named Doris Cleveland who establish a home up Toba Inlet. Even more political, The Inverted Pyramid (1924) was inspired by the failure of the Dominion Trust Company. It was followed by Wild West (1926), Pirates of the Plains (1928) and Gunpowder Lightning (1930). In Down the Dark Alley (1936) he described rumrunning during Prohibition. Throughout most of his later work, according to critic and friend Lester Peterson, Sinclair showed a “general disgust for the mere entrepreneur, the man who manipulates but does not actually produce goods or services… Monetary gain must not, in the Sinclair philosophy, be derived by means which destroy beauty or create waste—a creed which led Sinclair to oppose what he recognized, earlier than most, was senseless despoliation of natural resources.” From 1932 onwards, Sinclair chiefly depended on commercial fishing. He wrote short stories and novelettes during the winters until 1940. Although he produced 15 novels, as well as dozens of novelettes and short stories in magazines such as Popular Magazine, Adventure and Short Stories, after 1940 he mostly contributed poems to the Fisherman newspaper and made popular VHF broadcasts to other fishermen on a program called The Sinclair Hour. In the 1950s he began writing again, publishing westerns called Both Sides of the Law (1951), Room for the Rolling M (1954) and The Man Who Rode By Himself (1958).
Bertrand Sinclair is sometimes associated with a ballad, “Banks Trollers”, the unofficial anthem of West Coast commercial fishermen, that was adapted and sung by folklorist and musician Phil Thomas. Sinclair didn’t retire from fishing until age 83; he died at age 91 in 1972 in Pender Harbour. His ashes were scattered over Poor Man’s Rock off Lasqueti Island, the setting for his most important novel. After more than 15 years of on-again, off-again research, Betty Keller of Sechelt published her biography, Pender Harbour Cowboy: The Many Lives of Bertrand Sinclair (Touchwood $18.95). In England, Richard J. Lane has published Literature & Loss: Bertrand William Sinclair’s British Columbia (The London Network for Modern Fiction Studies, 2000). Bertrand Sinclair’s granddaughter Jane Maloughney [née Whitaker] has continued the family literary tradition by operating Mostly Books in Squamish. Manuscripts and literary material related to Sinclair’s career was donated to Special Collections at the University of British Columbia by Betty Purves, his third partner. There is a public email forum on the life and literature of Bertrand Sinclair: for info, send an e-mail to bertrand_sinclair-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Review of the author’s work by BC Studies:
The Inverted Pyramid
Bertrand Sinclair
BOOKS:
Raw Gold (1908) New York: Dillingham.
The Land of Frozen Suns (1910) New York: Dillingham.
North of Fifty-Three (1915) [N53] Toronto: Musson, 1914; Boston: Little, Brown, 1914; London: Allen.
Big Timber: A Story of the Northwest (1920) [BT] Toronto: Copp, Clark, 1916; Boston: Little, Brown, 1916; London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Burned Bridges (1920) [BB] Toronto: Briggs, 1919; Boston: Little, Brown, 1919; London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Poor Man’s Rock (1920) [PMR] Toronto: Ryerson, 1920; Boston: Little, Brown, 1920; London: Hodder & Stoughton.
The Hidden Places (1922) [HP] Toronto: Ryerson, 1922; Boston: Little, Brown, 1922; London: Hodder & Stoughton.
The Inverted Pyramid (1924) [IP] Toronto: Goodchild, 1924; Boston: Little, Brown, 1924; London: Hodder & Stoughton. New edition, Ronsdale, 2012. $18.95 978-1-55380-128-3
Wild West (1926) [WW] Toronto: Ryerson, 1926; Boston: Little, Brown, 1926; London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Pirates of the Plains (1928) London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Gunpowder Lightning (1930) Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1930; Boston: Little, Brown, 1930; London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Down the Dark Alley (1935) [DDA] Boston: Little, Brown, 1936; London: Hodder & Stoughton. SC
Both Sides of the Law (1951) New York: Novel Selections, 1951; London: Wright & Brown.
Room for the Rolling M (1954) London: Wright & Brown.
The Man Who Rode By Himself (1958).
FOR A COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY, SEE BELOW
1912
Whiskey Runners – 1912 Selig – directed by Otis B. Thayer, starring William Duncan, Myrtle Stedman, Lester Cuneo, Charles Reeves, Marshall Stedman (p. 1494 Western and Frontier Film and Television Credits 1903-1995) (American Film Index 1916-1920 states it was released Aug 24, 1912 and was 1000 feet.) Internet Movie Database credits B.M. Bower as the writer?
1914
Shotgun Jones – Selig Polyscope – directed by Colin Campbell – Tom Mix & Hoot Gibson – May 1914 – Rex Theatre, Vancouver (prev. cited p. 1392 names Tom Mix but American Film Index 1908-1915 does not. It also adds Wheeler Oakman, Bessie Eyton as Helen Chester and Joseph Girard to the cast and notes it was 1000 feet and was released Apr 25, 1914)
1914
The Cherry Pickets, 1914. According to Ted Rowcliffe, The Cherry Pickers was produced by Colin Campbell, producer of most of the Sinclair-based films from Selig Polyscope. It was released 13 April 1914. Based on a play of the same name that was written by Joseph Arthur and staged in 1896, it was a popular melodrama set during the Anglo-Afghan War. It concerns the rivalry between two officers for a young woman’s hand. Under Arthur’s name in the credits is listed “Bertrand W. Sinclair-scenario”. The cast included Wheeler Oakman, Gordon Sackville, Frank Clark, Jack MacDonald, William Elmer, Al W. Filson and Art Accord.
1917
Big Timber – 1917 – purchased by Fox who merged with Bosworth Films, presented by Paramount – directed by William Desmond Taylor (one of the biggest names in Hollywood) – Wallace Reid (one of the biggest names in Hollywood) as Jack Fife , Kathlyn Williams as Stella Benton, Alfred Paget as Charlie Benton, John Burton, Joe King as Walter Monohan, Helen Bray as Linda Abbey, Florence Vidor – It played at the Rex theatre in Vancouver August 23-25, 1917 – released July 14, 1917. AFI Silent Films says: “Because she has lost both her voice and her wealth after the death of her father, Stella Benton goes to live with her brother Charles at his lumber camp. Struggling to make a living, Charles appoints his sister to cook for the hundred lumberjacks in the camp. Woefully overworked, Stella accepts the marriage proposal of neighboring lumberman Jack Fyfe, even though she does not love him. A child is born out of the loveless marriage and the couple is reasonably happy until Walter Monahan, a wealthy lumberman, begins to court Stella. After the death of her child, Stella leaves Fyfe and returns to the stage as a concert singer. Meanwhile, Monahan, jealous of Fyfe’s success, sets fire to his holdings. Hearing of her husband’s misfortune, Stella immediately returns to the lumber camp where she offers Fyfe her own money to rebuild his losses. As the couple embrace, it begins to rain and Fyfe’s holdings, as well as his marriage, are saved.
1917
North of 53 – 1917 – Fox 5 reel – 60 minutes – directed by Richard Stanton and William Desmond Taylor. Dustin Farnum as Roarin’ Bill Wagstaff, Winnifred Kingston as Hazel Weir, William Conklin as Andrew Bush, Rex Downs as Joe Brooks, Frank Lanning as Nig Giroux, Edward Alexander, Jack Nelson – Writing credits – Gardner Hunting, Bertrand Sinclair (story). American Film Index 1916-1920 states it was released Oct 6, 1917 while AFI says 23 Sept 1917. A Guide to the Silent Westerns notes “Dustin Farnum as a prospector avenges his partner’s murder and finds love in the snow country in this northwest drama. Winifred Kingston, who appeared as the female lead in numerous silent films, provides the romantic interest.” AFI Silent Films says “Roaring” Bill Wagstaff’s troubles begin when he finds his partner, Joe Brooks, murdered in the snow. A ray of sunshine enters his life soon after though, with the arrival of Hazel Weir who has come West to teach, but finds herself lost in the woods outside the town of Cariboo Meadows. Bill discovers her and under the guise of leading her to town, takes her to his cabin where he declares his love. Hazel, who is smarting from unfair accusations of scandal, rejects Bill’s offer and leaves for Cariboo Meadows. Later, Bill learns of Hazel’s problems and rushes to town to confirm his faith in her. En route, he stops at a saloon where he sees his dead partner’s snowshoes leaning against a wall. At the point of a gun, he extracts the name of Joe’s killer from the saloon keeper and then sets out after the man, Nig Geroux. After avenging his partner’s death, Bill finds Hazel, who finally accepts his love.
1921
The Raiders – Canyon Pictures Corporation-based on the story The Whiskey Runners – 1921. Directed by Nate Watt; Franklyn Farnum as Pvt. Fitzgerald RCMP, Bud Osborne as Pvt Herrick, Vester Pegg as Bob Thiele and Clair Windsor as `Honey’ Moore. Also Frederick Soultas as `Big’ Moore, H. Abbott as Oscar Nelson, J.K. Van Buren as Dave Moore, John Hatfield (III)as Hank Nelson, Luella Maxim. Writing credits Bertrand W. Sinclair (story), William Wing.(A Guide to the Silent Westerns notes that Canyon only made westerns and only in 1921 pxxii). AFI Silents Fims says it was released in May 1921 and says, “Northwest Mounted Policemen Fitzgerald and Herrick, who are later joined by Indian guide Uncas, have been detailed to track down a gang of whisky-runners. They stop at a farm operated by “Big” Moore; and there Fitzgerald attracts Moore’s daughter, “Honey,” who has grown distrustful of her childhood sweetheart, Bob Thiele. The Mounties track the smugglers to their lair and rout them; but afterwards, Herrick is killed by a mysterious shot aimed at Fitzgerald. Uncas investigates and finds a clue pointing to Honey’s brother Dave. Thiele, however, is revealed as the true murderer and the leader of the smugglers. Thiele defeats Fitzgerald in a fight and is about to shoot him when he is struck dead by lightning. Fitzgerald reports back to headquarters but returns to claim Honey as his bride.
In several of the above instances, the story line has been changed substantially from the written word to the film.
— information provided by Ted Rowcliffe, April, 2004
NOVELS HAVE BEEN MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK
N-Bar Freak – The San Francisco Argonaut May 1902
A Mix-Up With Cupid – San Francisco Argonaut Nov. 7, 1904
The Stress of the Trail – San Francisco Argonaut Christmas 1904
Under Flying Hoofs – San Francisco Argonaut Jan 30, 1905
Under Flying Hoofs – Argonaut Stories (1905 anthology)
Mormon Jack Explains -Western Field Mar 1905 VI(2):126-129
There’s Never A Law – San Francisco Argonaut Mar 24, 1905
Bill Mattison: Medicine Man – San Francisco Argonaut Apr 17, 1905
The Bugles of the First Montana – Bohemian June 1906 X(6):657-664
No Robbery – Bohemian magazine 1906 (?)
The Price: A Tale of Cattle Ranges – The Blue Mule Mar 1906 1(2):15-18 (second edition)
The Day of the Dog – Popular Magazine Apr 1906
The Long X Man – Popular Magazine Aug 1906 (?)
Local No. 1 – Gray Goose Sept 1906 XVII(3):125-131
In The Smokey Hills – Popular Magazine Oct 1906 (?see Jan. 1908?)
At Peace With The Yellow Peril – Popular Magazine 1906 (?)
Jim Fisher’s System – Blue Mule Dec 1906 I(10):29-35
Red Loco – Great Falls Tribune Christmas 1906
Where Prairie Breezes Blow – The Bohemian Jan 1907 XII(1):32 (poetry)
The Lair of the Sun Dogs – Popular Magazine Feb. 7, 1907
Raw Gold – Part 1 – Popular Magazine Apr 29, 1907
Raw Gold – Part 2 – Popular Magazine Oct. 1907
Under The Great Bear – Popular Magazine 1907 (?)
Sound of Many Guns – Popular Magazine 1907 (?)
The Boomerang – Popular Magazine 1907 (?)
Fifty Feet of Rawhide – Popular Magazine 1907 (?)
The Primal Instinct – Popular Magazine 1907 (?)
The Bridesmaid – ? ?
Raw Gold – (copyright Street and Smith 1907?) Dillingham 1908; *Donohue 1908;
Piano Jim – Popular Magazine 1908
In The Smoky Hills – Popular Jan 1908
Way of the Transgressor Popular Feb 1908
The Man With The Limp – Popular 1909
The Land of the Frozen Suns – Part 1 – Popular Magazine 1909 (originally Troubled Train)
The Land of the Frozen Suns – Part 2 – Popular Magazine 1909 (originally Troubled Train)
Land of the Frozen Suns – Popular Magazine Oct 1909 XIV(no):1-77 (see Apr 7’26)
The Law of Retribution – The Popular Magazine Apr 6 1909 XII(6):186-193
Land of the Frozen Suns – Dillingham 1910; Donohue (?) Date (?); (orig. Troubled Train)
Whiskey Runners – Popular Magazine 1910 (?)
Man-with-the-Burned-Face – Popular Sept 1910
The Place of Skeletons – Popular Sept 15, 1910
Col. Colt, the Equalizer – Popular, Oct 1, 1910
The Whiskey Runners – Popular, April 15, 1911
One Christmas – Popular Magazine June 1 1911 pp144-155
The Peculiar Nature of White Man’s Burden – Popular June 1 -1911
Tempered Metal – Popular Magazine Nov 15 1911 XXII(3):1-33
Raw Gold (Chapters 5-7) The New Nick Carter Weekly #791 1912
Raw Gold (Chapters 8-10) The New Nick Carter Weekly #792 1912
Raw Gold (Chapters 11-15) The New Nick Carter Weekly #793 1912
Biggest Game of All – Popular Magazine Apr 1 1912
Gray Robe’s Medicine – Popular 1910
North of 53 – Part 1 – Popular Magazine June 1912
Shotgun Jones – The Popular Magazine. No. 4 Vol. 26 – First Dec. -Number Out – Nov. 7, 1912.
The Whiskey Runners – Moving Picture – 1913
A Ton of Gold – Popular Magazine 1913
In The Name of the Law – Popular Magazine Jan 15 1913 4(27)
The Coming and Going of Little Wind – Popular (/) pre-March 1913
???????????? – Popular Magazine pre-March 1913
A Man’s Job – Popular Magazine Mar 1 1913
North of 53 – Popular Mid-March 1913
Laying of the Ghost – Popular Magazine July 15 1913
The Rest of the Story: North of 53 – Part 2 – Popular Magazine Dec 15 1913
A Ton of Gold – Popular Magazine 1913 (?)
The Golden Calk – Popular Magazine March 15, 1914 (Keller sez May 15, 1913 but…)
The Threatening Eye – Popular Magazine – Aug 15, 1914
Shotgun Jones – Moving Picture – 1914
North of 53 – Little Brown 1914; *Grosset & Dunlop *1914/15/18;Musson 1914 (Can.);
Hidden Bay – Popular Magazine Jan 28 1915 (+ sez Apr 7)
(Set in Billings Bay, Nelson Island)
From the Pot to the Picaroon – Popular Magazine Jan 7 1915
Cargo Reef – Popular Magazine Feb 7 1915
No Luck At All – Popular Magazine Feb 23 1915
Still Waters – Popular Magazine Apr 23, 1915
Fuzzy Wuzzy – Popular Magazine May 23 1915
The Threatening Eye – mentioned in Sept 20’15 in Popular
The Reaping – Popular Magazine Sept 20 1915
Spanish Joe – Popular Magazine Oct 7 1915
Troubled Waters – Popular Magazine Oct 20, 1915
Tillbum (?) Sam – Popular Magazine Dec 20 1915
Big Timber – Part 1 – Popular Magazine Jan 1916
Way of the North – Popular Magazine Apr 7 1916, Apr 20 1916 and May 7 1916
Fiddling Kid – Popular Magazine Aug 7, 1916
Big Timber – Little Brown 1916; *Burt 1916;
unknown title – Popular Magazine – March 7, 1917
Big Timber – Moving Picture – 1917
North of 53 – Moving Picture – 1917
Burned Bridges – Popular Magazine – Jul 7 and Jul 20’19
The Heathen Chinee Is Peculiar – Popular Magazine Sept 20 1919
Ten Thousand Bucks – Popular Magazine Dec 7, 1919
Burned Bridges – *Little Brown 1919; Briggs 1919 (Can.);
Grosset & Dunlop 1920;
Poor Man’s Rock – Little Brown 1920; *Burt 1920;
Hodder & Stoughton (?) 1920 (?);
A Jack and Two Jills – Popular Magazine Mar 7 1920
One Good Turn – Popular Magazine June 20 1920
Poor Man’s Rock – Popular Magazine Aug 7, Aug 20, Sept 7, Sept 20 1920
(also listed as May 1, 1920)
The Man With The Limp reprint Jan 29 ‘21 Western Story Magazine
Hidden Places – Popular Magazine Oct 7, Oct 20, Nov 7, Nov 20 1921
Straight Shooting – Popular Magazine – 2nd issue Sept. 1921
Over the Border – Maclean’s 1922
Over the Border – Popular 1922 ($$ and + June 7 )
and + Sorrowful Island – Maclean’s 1922
Sorrowful Island – Popular Nov 20 1922
Golden Fleece – Metropolitan magazine 1922
Golden Fleece – Maclean’s magazine 1922
Lemon Peel – Metropolitan magazine 1921-22
Lemon Peel – Maclean’s magazine 1921-22
Hidden Places – Little Brown 1922; Burt 1922; Hodder and Stooughton n.d. UK; Ryerson 1922 (Can.);
Yo! Ho! And a Bottle Of Rum – Maclean’s Jan 24, 1922
Yo! Ho! And a Bottle of Rum – (Metropolitan later than May?) 1922
The Heavy Hand – Popular Magazine – Jan 7’23
Test of the North – Short Stories – April 25, ‘23 – Pgs 3-56 – Cover design Remington Schuyler
Twice In The Graveyard Watch -Popular Magazine 1924 LXXIII(4):1-46
Twice In The Graveyard Watch – Macleans Sept 1 1924 XXXVII(17):9-12, 53-59(oversize); Sept 15 – 17- 19, 39-42; Oct 1 – ??
High and Dry – Part 1 – Sunset fall 1924
The Inverted Pyramid – *Boston Little Brown 1924; Goodchild 1924 (Can.);
High and Dry – Part 2 – Sunset magazine Feb 1925
Headwinds – Popular Magazine 1925
Headwinds – Maclean’s magazine 1925
Mrs. Potiphar – Short Stories magazine Oct 1925
Wild West – *Little Brown 1926; Ryerson 1926; Burt 1926; Hodder & Stoughton 1926;
@ Wild West Short Stories – Jan 10, 1926
Wild West – Short Stories Feb 25, 1926
@A Cattle King’s Romance – Maclean’s March 1 1926 XXXIX(5):14-15,62-65
@A Cattle King’s Ransom – Short Stories magazine Mar 10 1926 CXIV(5):26-36 Cross 7 Ranch series
?????????????????????- Short Stories 12 more Cross 7 Ranch serialized
A Touch of Iron – Short Stories Mar 25 1926 CXIV(6)):164-173
Land of the Frozen Suns – Popular Apr 7’26
Kelly-On-The-Trail – Short Stories Apr 10 1926 CXV(1):51-57
Highflyer – Short Stories July 10 1926 CXVI(1):51-57 (see end-Nov. 1926 UK SS))
With Their Boots On – Short Stories – Aug 25 1926 CXVI(4):49-62
Gunpowder Gold – Short Stories Sept 10 1926 CXVI(5):163-172
Twice In The Same Place – Short Stories Sept 25 1926 CXVI(6):76-84
Red Willow – Short Stories Oct 10 1926 CXVII(1):45-59
The End of the Rope – Short Stories Nov 25’26
Longhorn and Shorthorn – Short Stories UK – Mid-November 1926
High Flyer – Short Stories UK- end November 1926
Head Winds – Macleans Nov 15 – Dec 1 1926 XXXIX(22):20-22,32-42; (23):19-21, 50-61 and @Aces, Cinches and Hunches – Short Stories Dec 25, 1926 CXVII(6):163-173 +and@Johnny-Behind-The-Rock – Short Stories Jan 10 1927 CXVIII(1):73-82
The Dollar Mark Brand- Short Stories #518, July 10, 1927 (also Pinkerton story) (concluded next issue)
The Dollar Mark Brand – Short Stories – July 25, 1927
Out of the Blue – Popular Magazine July 1927 LXXXIV(6):1-71(UBCSC typescript 167p)
In The Badlands – The Popular Magazine Sept 7 1927 LXXXV(4):79-87
A Fool and Some Money – Popular Magazine Sept 24 ’27
The Four Winds – The Popular Stories Nov 5 1927 LXXXVI(5):43-57
Past Twenty One – Popular Magazine Dec 3 1927
Pirates of the Plains – Little Brown 1928; Hodder and Stoughton 1928 (UK);
Forked Trails – Popular Magazine – Mar 10’28
Wolf Bounty – The Popular Magazine Mar 24 1928 XC(1):45-59 (UBCSC typescript26p)
Room for the Rolling M – Adventure Magazine August 1, 1928
The Jocular Pilgrim – Adventure Sept 1 1928 (UBCSC typescript 21p)
Buck Ripley’s Slide – Adventure Oct 15 1928 pp46-55 (UBCSC typsescript 19p)
Pirates of the Plains – Adventure 1928-1930
Bigger’‘N Biggar – Adventure Magazine – Jan 15,1929
Colonel Colt, The Equalizer – Far West Stories – June 1929
Straight Shooting – Popular Magazine Aug 7 1929 XCVI(6):84-101 (see 2nd issue Sept 21)
_______________Sept 2, 1929 Popular Magazine
Straight Shooting – Popular – Second Sept. Number On Sale Aug 20, 1929
The Finger of Suspicion – Popular Magazine – Oct 20’29
The Man With The Limp – Far West Stories – Nov. 21929
Dollars To Clink – Adventure May 1 1930 LXXIV(4):39-51 (UBCSC typescript 26p)
Gunpowder Lightning – Part 1 – Short Stories Apr 1930 (+ sez May 25’30 Gene Stark?)
Gunpowder Lightning – Part II – Short Stories May 10 1932 CXXXI(3):100-125
Gunpowder Lightning – Part 2 – Short Stories May 25 1930 (Gene Stark)
The Phantom Cougar – Popular Magazine June 1 1930 XCIX(6):114-135
Gunpowder Lightning – Conclusion – Short Stories June 10 1930 CXXXI(5):112-142
Three Ways From The Ace – Short Stories July 10 1930 CXXXII(1):86-93
(UBCSC typescript 17p)
Blood Is Thicker – Adventure July 15 1930 LXXV(3):46-57 (UBCSC typescript 25p)
Feathered Death – Short Stories Oct 1030
Hands Up – Short Stories Oct 10 1930 CXXXIII(1):64-83 (UBCSC typescript 40p)
The Worm Turns – Short Stories – Nov./ 10, 1930
The Grudge – Short Stories Dec 10 1930 CXXXIII(5):139-147
Rope’s End – Black Mask – Typescript 9000 words Dec 1930 (UBCSC typescript 29p)
(fine $300 US)
Gunpowder Lightning – Little Brown 1930; McClelland & Stewart 1930 (Can);
Gunpowder Lightning – Burt 1931; (vg 35US, nf 82US)
Seeing Red – Short Stories Feb 25 1931 CXXXIV(4):49-60
Never A Law – Short Stories Mar 10 1931 CXXXIV(5):128-146 (see Mar 1905)
Bull of the Woods – Short Stories May 25 1931 CXXXV(4):63-74
Twelve Black Monks – Complete Stories – Sept 15, 1931
Iron Men and Hidden Gold – Short Stories – Nov, 10, 1931
Pouce River – ? ?
Seeing Red – ? ?
Night Wind – Short Stories Jan 25, 1932 CXXXVIII(2):6-19
Dog Eat Dog – Short Stories Feb 10 1932 CXXXVIII(3):56-71
Barnacle Bill – Short Stories – March 25 1932
The Sign of the Falling Leaf – The Popular Stories Apr 1 1932 pp52-61
___ June 1932 Empire Frontiers(World’s Work; Kingswood, Surrey, 1/ , 128pp, pulp) Front cover advertises “A Novelette of the Yukon Gold Rush by B. W. Sinclair” but that story is not actually to be found in the magazine. (Contents)
All The King’s Horses – (serialized) Complete Stories 1932
All The King’s Horses – Complete Stories Aug 15 1932 XXVIII(6):2-77
(UBCSC typescript 107p)
Both Sides of the Law – Short Stories Sept 10 1932 CXL(5):48-99
Stop Everything – Short Stories Dec 10 1932 CXLI(5):48-61
(first of the Bill West serial; 13 more over 4 years)
Just Like That – Short Stories Jan 10 1933 CXLIII(5):68-82
Just Routine Stuff – (serialized) Complete Stories Feb./ 1 1933
Just Routine Stuff – Complete Stories Feb 1 1933 XXX(5):4-23
Wright Turn – Short Stories Feb 10 1933 CXLII(3):55-67 (‘the man who had the north by the tail’)
Twenty Minute Eggs Short Stories July 25 1933 CXLIV(2):48-61
The Man Who Rode By Himself – Short Stories Oct. 25, 1933 (plus BM Bower story)
Gone West -Short Stories Nov 10 1933 CXLV(3):46-57
Too Bright A Moon – Short Stories Nov 25 1933 (UBCSC typescript 86p, 101p)
Valley of the Weeping – Short Stories Dec 10 1933 CXLV(5):104-113
See also Valley of the Weeping, Short Stories November 1951
Make Way For A Sailor – Short Stories 1934 (?)
Stout Hearted Men – Short Stories Jan 25 1934 CXLVI(2):34-45
The Whole Bag of Tricks – Short Stories Mar 25 1934
The Last Laugh – Short Stories May 25, 1934
The Bay of Big Killing – Maclean’s Apr 15-May 15 1934 XCVII(8):5-7,62-65;
(9):20-22, 47-51; (10):20-22, 49-51 (oversize)
Lost Lode – Short Stories June 25 1934 CXLVII(6):8-43
Feathered Death Short Stories Oct 25 1934 CLXIX(2):29-43
Just The Same Old Thing – Short Stories Nov 10 1934 CLXIX(3):3-38
(UBCSC typescript 59p ‘The Same Old Thing’)
Hidden Bay – Short Stories (?) 1935 (?)
Nothing On The Ball – Short Stories Feb 25 1935 CL(4):64-74
Musty Beers – Top Notch, March 1935
@Plundering Blunders – Short Stories Sept 10 1935 CLII(5):37-50 (see also SS Mid Jan’36)
@Adam’s Apple – Short Stories Dec 25 1935 CLII(6):34-48
Beyond Soundings – Adventure magazine ca. 1936 (first of the Iron Duke series) (UBCSC typescript 21 p)
Mid-winter – Adventure magazine ca. 1936 (UBCSC typescript 19p)
(second of the Iron Duke series)
Down The Dark Alley – Boston Little Brown 1936
(UBCSC say Hodder and Stoughton edition is ca. 1935)
Plundering Blunders – Short Stories Mid-Jan’36 (see also Sept 10’35
Pigs Without Bristles – Adventure magazine July 37 (includes personal bio by Sinclair)
Two Tickets To Hell – Short Stories Oct 25, 1937 (UBCSC typescript 59p) (e-bay sez ‘36
Floating Coffin – Short Stories ca. 1937 and ABE)
Fly, Brother, Fly – Short Stories Aug 10 1937CLX(3):42-54 (UBCSC typescript 24p)
Midwinter Madness – Thrilling Adventures Oct 1937
Like A Wolf On The Fold – Short Stories Nov 25 1937 CLXI(4):58-74
(UBCSC typescript n32p) (last of the Bill West series)
Blow the Cat Down -Adventure – April 1938
John The Finn, Master – Adventure July 1938
Man Overboard – Adventure Sept 1938 XCIX(5):32-41
(third of the Iron Duke series)
Come Around Friday – Liberty Magazine – Oct. 8, 1938
The Seafaring Mr. McQuokle – Adventure Nov 1938 100(1):68-78
Potiphar’s Wife – Adventure magazine Oct 1939 (101-6:87-97)
Walk The Plank – Short Stories 1939 (Iron Duke series)
Prelude to Storm – ? ?
The Thing That Couldn’t Happen – Short Stories, May 25, 1940
Jinx Ship – Short Stories Oct 10 1940 (see Uk Short Stories Mar/Apr’42)
God’s Pocket – Short Stories Nov 25 1940 CLXXIII(4):37-49 (+ sez UK Jul ‘43)
Sailor Beware – Adventure Oct 1940 103(6):90-99 (final of Iron Duke series)
Jinx Ship – Short Stories (British Reprint Edition) Mar/Apr 1943 (+ sez 1942)
God’s Pocket – Short Stories (British Reprint Edition) July 1943
Buck Ripley’s Slide – Zane Grey’s Western Magazine July 1949
Wild West -Popular Library 1949 (paperback);
Gunpowder Lightning – Dell 1950 (paperback)
Dollars To Clink – All Western – Apr-June 1950
Too Bright A Moon – All Western – Aug-Sept 1950
Too Bright A Moon – Short Stories May 1951 CCXI(5):94-109 (see Nov 25 1933)
Twenty Minute Eggs – Short Stories Sept 1951 CCXXII(?)(3):121-132
Jocular Pilgrim – Zane Grey’s Western Magazine Oct 1951 (UBCSC typescript 21p)
Valley of the Weeping, Short Stories November 1951
See also $@Valley of the Weeping – Short Stories Dec 10 1933 CXLV(5):104-113
The Wright Man – Short Stories, January 1952
Room For The Rolling M – Wright and Brown 1954 (paperback)
Room for the Rolling M – Streamline – 1954(?)(paperback)
Both Sides of the Law – Wright and Brown 1955 (paperback) (see Sept 10 1932)
Both Sides of the Law – Western Novel Classic – Novel Selections Inc. 1951(?)
The Man Who Rode By Himself – Wright and Brown 1958 (paperback)
Fiddling Kid – Thrilling Western Stories Magazine – Winter 1968
Room for the Rolling M – Butterick no date (PAPERBACK)
UBC Special Collection Typescripts not mentioned elsewhere
Anananias and The Sapphires
Answer To Prayer
Before Strange Gods
Beyond Gods Country
Blow The Cat Down
The Boomerang
The Bridesmaid
Blueback Bill
Fed To The Wolves
A Ghost That Walked
Hands Off!
Lost Dice
Nobody wins
The Tale of a Whale
The Big Mistake
Bigger’N Bigger
Confusion to the Enemy
The Finger of Suspicion
(Including Chapter XI The Clean Up)
Frozen Face
Out of the Blue
Stories Referred to in Correspondence
The City of Numbered Days
The Red Streak
All The King’s Horses
Room for the Rolling M.
North of Fifty-Three (as it appeared in North West Farmstead)
The Way of the North
Burned Bridges
The Hidden Places
The Inverted Pyramid
The Whiskey Runners
The Roaring Hole
The Dollar Mark Brand
Confusion to the Enemy
The Tale of Ten Thousand Doggies
Troubled Waters
The Stetson Hat In Literature by F. Romer (BWS contributed to)
Come Around Friday
Bertram (sic) Sinclair: The Man and His Book – published by Little Brown and Co. (pamphlet)
The Land of the Frozen Suns
One Black Eye Deserves Another
Raw Gold
Big Timber
Wild West
Over The Border
Longhorn and Shorthorn
— Compiled by Ted Rowcliffe, Garden Bay, B.C.
The story of my great grandfather is quite the tale!
I am proud!
Tracey